Better and Stronger
by AmaryllisWhimsy
Summary: Kara never stopped struggling. Her eyes met his briefly. He saw that despite her yelling and threats, she had been crying, and right before she tore her eyes from his she mouthed. "I'm sorry." One-shot.


**So…This is just a little of what I guess is a prequel. To why maybe Hatter became a lunatic. I own none of these characters, or any TV show, movie, or book series that is affiliated with "Alice in Wonderland."**

OooOooO

Hatter stared at the flames. Orange and crimson, they licked insatiably at his purple hat, which lay discarded on the ground. hungry for more, the fire greedily eating up the entire area. The sunset splashed flowers wilted and turned to ash beneath the heat. Nothing remained untouched.

It was all surprisingly quiet. A sort of hush had come over the land, but not a peaceful kind. Hatter could practically feel the crushed defeat that seemed to smother the area. Or perhaps that was merely the smoke. How the Queen had found out about the clandestine meeting place for the secret rebels was a mystery, and one he didn't particularly want to contemplate. It meant, perhaps, a traitor. It meant…it meant so many different things.

They had failed. It was done.

The card guards had found him by now, and dragged his unresisting body to the clearing. He saw many of his comrades, all dirtied and smudged, and he saw several with blackened eyes and bloodied lips. They had resisted, but Hatter knew he needed to stay alive. He couldn't see her anywhere, and it caused a small seed of hope blossom within him. She might have escaped. She could warn the others, and then there would still be a lingering chance. And…and she'd be free. He didn't care about himself. He knew that this was it, that he was done and finished.

Across the clearing he spotted the Queen. The bloody Queen of Hearts. Her red hair had fallen loose down her shoulders, and her eyes were filled with such venom and hatred that Hatter could feel bile rise in his throat.

"Let this be a lesson to all traitors! Every act of rebellion will be punished! I will squelch even a flicker of revolt!" She flicked her eyes to his huddled group. "And all of you will pay. Oh, shall I make you pay."

Hatter avoided the direct gaze of the Queen, while still trying to take a census of who was here and who was…dead. And who was gone.

And then it happened. Then he heard the cry of pain, high and resonate, and he saw her blonde curls, matted and tangled. Her eyes were fierce. Fighting eyes. But there was nothing to be done, now, they had her, and they were dragging her back.

"Kara," he whispered. He couldn't even hear his own voice over the roar of the flames and the shouts and cries all around him.

Kara never stopped struggling. Her eyes met his briefly. He saw that despite her yelling and threats, she had been crying, and right before she tore her eyes from his she mouthed. "I'm sorry."

Hatter knew what she was going to do.

"Kara, don't." His voice still drowned about by the noises around. "Kara."

As she passed, Kara spat in the Queen's face, so angrily and with such vehemence it even made a guard flinch for her. The Queen's face contorted, but not with rage. With cold calculation.

It was a distraction. Chess would come at any moment, and he would attempt a rescue. But Kara was too far away, next to the Queen, who had just slapped her so hard across the face that the girl fell back.

"You vile little worm," The Queen seethed. She hit Kara again. "I'll show you. I'll show you all."

"Show all you want. We'll be back. But better and stronger." It created a half second where the world could be different. But it was there.

It was that half a second that changed things. Chess appeared with the others, out of nowhere and silently. They hadn't time for so much as a breath and they'd all been shoved through the portal he'd created. Hatter felt himself falling, and right before it all went black he saw it. The Queen did it herself. Blood spurting, gushing everywhere. The fire raged in the background, the scent of smoke in the air.

Her eyes. _I'm sorry. _Fighting eyes. _We'll be back. But better and stronger. _She was laughing and spinning and pulled him close to her. _Your eyes remind me of stars. _The world was burning and she was dying. _I'm sorry. _The Queen, spit on her face, poison etched on her features. _We'll be back. _The blood. Everywhere the blood. _I'm sorry. _

And then, nothing.

When he woke he laughed. He laughed so hard and viciously and that he began to shake the bed he was lying on. Nobody offered up any information. He didn't ask.

Done. Finished.

"It was such a lovely party," he told Chess, between a fit of nervous giggling. "A party to _die _for." And then the laughter sounded strained, and Hatter felt his emotions darken. Chess stared at him, eyes unreadable as always.

"She's dead." Hatter stated. An unbearable quiet filled the room.

"Would you like to have tea, Chess? I do love a good cuppa."

"Hatter, the Red Knight is on the move."

"Of course. He's got to move, hasn't he? What would life be like if one sat around all day? All sitting and no staying."

"…Yes. Right." Cheshire's tail swished back and forth.

"But sitting and tea, there's a good combination. I wonder if she felt anything? I wonder if she burnt up, or if they…I ate a whole quarter of a cake once. Quarters! Halves! Such a difficult decision."

Cheshie was gone. Hatter didn't know when he left, but he felt unbothered. He glanced over to his right, and noticed a writing desk.

"I…I can't be late for tea," he murmured, stumbling out of the room.

The day was chilly and she was sitting at a desk. _Did you see that Raven? _Something about the way the day felt seemed forbidding. _I swear, he was staring right at me._ Her eyes were blue. They were fighting eyes. _I'm sorry. _Nothing would be the same again, because of that half second. _Better and stronger._

**OooOooO**

**Annnnd the end. Please leave an honest review.**


End file.
